Sand on a lawn - how much and when?
JB
clay and after a typical winter it has become a boggy mess with a high
proportion of moss. I understand that by aerating it and top dressing
with sharp sand I can improve matters. The question is when do I do
this and how much do I add?
I have aearted the lawn in both autumn and spring (in one of the drier
gaps) can I top dress with sand no and if so how much do I add. I know
the question is a bit of how long is a piece of string but is this in
the order of 1Kg / sq m or 1 tonne / sq m. I'm guessing somewhere
inbetween but what sort of order I I looking for here?
TIA
pied piper
"JB" <this....@somewhere.else.com> wrote in message
news:mm80329cjtjc7qfj9...@4ax.com...
aerate the lawn then top dress working in the sandy loam with a lute
Steve Harris
this....@somewhere.else.com (JB) wrote:
> the question is a bit of how long is a piece of string but is this in
> the order of 1Kg / sq m or 1 tonne / sq m. I'm guessing somewhere
> inbetween
1 tonne / sq m is definitely WAY too much. It would raise the level of
your lawn by at least 50cm!
Steve Harris - Cheltenham - Real address steve AT netservs DOT com
A useful bit of gardening software at http://www.netservs.com/garden/
Sue
"Steve Harris" <ro...@netservs.com> wrote
> In article <mm80329cjtjc7qfj9...@4ax.com>,
> this....@somewhere.else.com (JB) wrote:
>
>> the question is a bit of how long is a piece of string but is this in
>> the order of 1Kg / sq m or 1 tonne / sq m. I'm guessing somewhere
>> inbetween
>
> 1 tonne / sq m is definitely WAY too much. It would raise the level of
> your lawn by at least 50cm!
Hey don't discourage someone with ambition to go up in the world. ;)
--
Sue
adde...@yahoo.co.uk
> aerate the lawn then top dress working in the sandy loam with a lute
If you use just sand then it'll look like you just tipped a load of
sand over the lawn. I'd go with the sand mix. It won't do huge
amounts for drainage but it'll act like blotting paper and also stop
your shoes getting muddy when you walk on the lawn. With the forecast
drought on the way though maybe you should be looking at something
that'll actually keep the water in?!
cliff_the_gardener
Is that because the water is standing or because the kids are running
around on wet grass?
If your lawn is boggy, a top dressing of sand isn't going to solve the
issue quickly. The soile level will have to be raised above the water
table to have an effect. You would have to repeat topdressing for
years to have an effect.
The issue is one of drainage and best remidies by the installation of a
draininage to take the excess water away. Clearly you would need to
have somewhere to discharge the water to. Where I used to live was on
clay and as the years progressed the garden, which was typically damp,
would flood during rains. It turns out that there was a ditch behind
the property which, over the years, had been incorporated into peoples
gardens and garages built on. Some investigation revealed that we
would have to get intouch with each household to ensure that the ditch
was clear. Something that was unlikely to happen and would have taken
forever.
I would also incorporate grit sand into the soil to create a more open
soil texture, around 75-100kg m sq.
If you feel really adventurous, you could put in a large underground
water collector - solve problems of hosepipe band then!
Clifford
Bawtry, Doncaster, South Yorkshire
JB
<cliff_the...@hotmail.co.uk> wrote:
>I am latching onto your observatio that the lawn is boggy.
>Is that because the water is standing or because the kids are running
>around on wet grass?
>
>If your lawn is boggy, a top dressing of sand isn't going to solve the
>issue quickly. The soile level will have to be raised above the water
>table to have an effect. You would have to repeat topdressing for
>years to have an effect.
>>
No kids and no standing water. The lawn is on a slope but being over
clay water is held in the clay and doesn't drain down the slope.
Similarly because its on a slope the ground should be above the water
table already. The rationale was to add sharp grit / sand to open up
the structure enough to let gravity do the drainage for me.
>I would also incorporate grit sand into the soil to create a more open
>soil texture, around 75-100kg m sq.
Cheers that's the sort of info I needed. Despite Steve's whimsically
silly response it was obvious that 1Kg was too little and 1 tonne just
plain silly ;-)
>If you feel really adventurous, you could put in a large underground
>water collector - solve problems of hosepipe band then!
Actually not so adventurous and has been considered. Because of the
slope I have considered putting a french drain across the bottom of
the lawn which would still be above a patio where I could put water
tanks. Something like;
Lawn Lawn
Clay Clay Lawn Lawn Lawn
Clay French drain
Clay Clay Upper patio
Water tanks
Lower patio
cliff_the_gardener
French drain would do fine. If the old global warming thing is
correct, you could be looking for water, so if an option would be worth
having some tank arrangement. Don't for get to allow for some drainage
from an overflow.
I don't think you will go far wrong with 100kg m sq, but after you have
worked it in you will have a feel of how good it is. So long as it
isn't too wet, working all that sand in is a good job for some meaty
rotovator from the hire shop - the kind with wheels
Good luck
adde...@yahoo.co.uk
If you're prepared to dig up all the existing lawn then you might be
better off removing a layer of the clay and replacing it with decent
topsoil. Mixing sand and organic matter into clay isn't fun.
Mike Lyle
[...]
> Actually not so adventurous and has been considered. Because of the
> slope I have considered putting a french drain across the bottom of
> the lawn which would still be above a patio where I could put water
> tanks. Something like;
>
> Lawn Lawn
> Clay Clay Lawn Lawn Lawn
> Clay French drain
> Clay Clay Upper patio
>
> Water tanks
> Lower patio
Whoa there! Don't drain the _bottom_, drain the _top_! The idea of a
drain is to stop the water coming in: if you drain at the bottom, it's
already too late, so you've wasted your time. Put your drain across the
top to stop the water going _into_ the lawn, and down the side so that
it leads into the tank or pond. A pond makes a virtue of necessity, but
of course it will generally need somewhere to overflow to. A big lawn,
especially on a considerable slope, will want at least one more
cross-drain in the middle, also leading to the side drain. Consider
field drainage on a farm: the classic herringbone drains lead into the
ditch down the side, and thence to the river. This is a big job: good
fun, but big.
--
Mike.